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A grande (16 oz) Starbucks Cold Brew has 205mg of caffeine, per Caffeine Informer. A medium Dunkin' Cold Brew (24 oz) has 260mg. Bottled cold brews run anywhere from 145mg (Stok Unsweet Black, 13.7 oz) to 180mg (La Colombe, 9 oz can). For comparison, regular drip coffee averages about 145mg per 8 oz cup. The full chart by brand and size is below.
Cold brew's caffeine reputation is half wrong
Cold brew gets sold as the strong stuff, and the totals back that up. But ounce for ounce, the cold brew in your cup is usually weaker than hot drip. A grande Starbucks Cold Brew works out to about 13mg of caffeine per ounce (205mg over 16 oz), while drip coffee averages around 18mg per ounce (145mg per 8 oz, per Caffeine Informer's brewed coffee data).
Two things flip the math. First, cold brew comes in big cups, so the total per drink climbs fast even when the per-ounce number is modest. Second, ice. Iced cold brew is part water before you take a sip. Nitro cold brew is served without ice, which is why a grande Nitro jumps to 280mg while the regular grande cold brew sits at 205mg. Same base coffee, no dilution.
Homemade cold brew is its own animal. It is brewed as a concentrate, usually at a much stronger coffee-to-water ratio than drip, and the caffeine in your glass depends entirely on how much you dilute it. Pour concentrate straight over ice and you can easily out-caffeinate anything on the chart below. Cut it 1:1 with water or milk and you land closer to a normal cup.
Cold brew caffeine chart: brands and sizes compared
| Drink | Size | Caffeine |
|---|---|---|
| Starbucks Cold Brew | Tall (12 oz) | 155mg |
| Starbucks Cold Brew | Grande (16 oz) | 205mg |
| Starbucks Cold Brew | Venti | 310mg |
| Starbucks Cold Brew | Trenta | 360mg |
| Starbucks Nitro Cold Brew | Tall (12 oz) | 215mg |
| Starbucks Nitro Cold Brew | Grande (16 oz) | 280mg |
| Starbucks Nitro Cold Brew (canned) | 11 oz can | 235mg |
| Dunkin' Cold Brew | Small | 174mg |
| Dunkin' Cold Brew | Medium (24 oz) | 260mg |
| Dunkin' Cold Brew | Large | 347mg |
| Stok Cold Brew, Unsweet Black | 13.7 oz bottle | 145mg |
| Stok Cold Brew, Unsweet Extra Bold | 13.7 oz bottle | 170mg |
| La Colombe Cold Brew (can) | 9 oz can | 180mg |
| Regular drip coffee (for reference) | 8 oz cup | 145mg average |
Sources: Caffeine Informer pages for Starbucks Cold Brew, Starbucks Nitro Cold Brew, Dunkin' Cold Brew, Stok, La Colombe, and brewed coffee. Chain drinks vary batch to batch, so treat these as published typical values, not lab results for your specific cup.
For context, the FDA cites 400mg of caffeine a day as an amount generally not associated with negative effects in healthy adults. How caffeine affects you depends on your own tolerance and health, so treat these numbers as information, not advice.
Worth noticing on that chart: the two biggest chain sizes, Starbucks Trenta (360mg) and Dunkin' large (347mg), each get you most of the way to 400mg in a single cup.
Comparing caffeine? The caffeine comparison tool puts hundreds of drinks side by side, and the caffeine curfew calculator can check your cutoff time for tonight.
Controlling caffeine when you brew at home
Home cold brew has no printed caffeine number, but you control every variable that matters. The ratio does most of the work: a stronger coffee-to-water ratio makes a stronger concentrate, and how far you dilute it decides what you actually drink. Steep time matters less than people think past the first half day or so, and bean choice matters more; robusta carries roughly double the caffeine of arabica, so a blend with robusta in it will brew hotter than a straight arabica bag at the same ratio.
If you want repeatable results instead of guessing with a mason jar, a dedicated brewer with a fixed filter basket keeps your dose and yield consistent batch to batch. There are plenty of solid options if you browse cold brew makers on Amazon. Once you settle on a ratio and steep time, write it down and stop changing things. Consistency is the only way to know what a "cup" means for you.
How cold brew stacks up against other orders
If the caffeine number is the reason you order cold brew, it helps to know the neighbors. A grande cold brew (205mg) beats most espresso-and-milk drinks, since lattes are capped by their shot count rather than cup size; our latte caffeine breakdown covers that math. The iced shaken espresso is Starbucks's real cold heavy hitter among espresso drinks, and it is worth comparing before you default to nitro. And if you want the full menu picture in one place, the Starbucks caffeine guide lists every major drink by size.
The short version: regular iced cold brew is a mid-strength order that feels stronger than it is because it goes down easy. Nitro and the jumbo sizes are where the totals get serious.
Looking for a different drink? The full caffeine database has every chain and can we have verified.
FAQ
Does cold brew have more caffeine than regular coffee? Not always. Per ounce, iced cold brew is usually weaker than hot drip: a grande Starbucks Cold Brew works out to about 13mg per ounce, while drip coffee averages about 18mg per ounce. Cold brew's big totals come from big cup sizes and from concentrate that has not been diluted much.
How much caffeine is in nitro cold brew? A grande Starbucks Nitro Cold Brew has 280mg of caffeine and a tall has 215mg, per Caffeine Informer. Nitro is served without ice, so you get more actual coffee per cup than with regular iced cold brew. The canned version has 235mg per 11 oz can.
Which cold brew has the most caffeine? Among the drinks on this chart, the Starbucks Trenta Cold Brew leads at 360mg, with Dunkin's large cold brew close behind at 347mg. Either one on its own covers most of the FDA's 400mg daily context figure for healthy adults.